915 Labs responds to recent news and developments for the microwave-assisted sterilization processing technology including updates about Amazon and other ecommerce-driven brands in an exclusive interview.

There’s a side benefit to our checking Packaging Digest’s website metrics regularly: unexpected interest in older articles is also revealed. Recently, we found a sharp increase in a two-year-old feature on MATS, Microwave-assisted Thermal Sterilization (see Food packaging identified for new MATS processing). MATS uses 915-megahertz (MHz) frequency microwave energy in conjunction with pressurized hot water to sterilize or pasteurize packaged foods. We attributed the spike to an announcement by Amazon that it was investing in MATS technology for AmazonFresh ecommerce-delivered foods. Given that news and the fact it has been many months since we last spoke with 915 Labs, we conducted an interview with Matt Raider, the company’s COO, who brought us quickly up to speed on recent developments for a technology that’s claimed as a more efficient, gentler process than retorting.